We all know what it is like to struggle with kids who are tired, hungry, or just emotionally spent.
Aptly named, “the witching hour,” the time period right before dinner is often one of the most challenging times of the day for most parents, including me.
Fortunately, there are also times of the day when the kids (and Mom too) are most likely to be at their best. For us and for many families, our best time together is often mid to late morning!
I’m blessed to be able to spend the precious morning hours at home with my children.
After a full night’s sleep and a warm, filling breakfast my kids are at their best. They’re attentive, affectionate, and interested in what’s going on around them.
With a full cup of coffee and a plan to start the day, I stand a great chance of getting our homeschool day off to an enjoyable start!
This post contains affiliate links. I was compensated for my time in exchange for my honest opinion.
As a fellow Mom, you’ve probably noticed there are certain times of day that work best for your kids and your family to learn and play together too.
There are scientific studies* showing that for many people, especially children late morning is the best time for natural peak productivity.
Just before waking in the morning our body temperature starts to rise aiding memory, alertness, and concentration. This gradual rise in body temperature peaks at mid morning, making morning time an ideal time to share some of our richest homeschooling moments.
For those of you that are late risers, night owls, or just unable to get “morning time” done in the morning. Never fear. For a few months our daughter’s gymnastic class and my doctor appointments blocked our traditional morning time.
Our family had great success doing morning time in the early afternoon after our youngest had nap time.
Flexibility is one of the greatest advantages of homeschooling; don’t be afraid to make morning time what and when you need it to be!
What is Morning Time?
“Morning Time contains subjects that the family can do together that emphasize truth, goodness, and beauty in their homeschool.”
-Pam Barnhill
Morning Time has long been a favorite time to read, play outside, and engage in small, but meaningful projects as a family.
Heading into homeschooling I was delighted to find that other Moms, most notably Pam Barnhill have tapped into this golden time of morning time and found a way to make it even more meaningful and beneficial.
Pam even authored an amazing Morning Basket Guide, which is a fabulous way to get started with Morning Time. Most recently she created Morning Time Plans that take the work out of organizing seasonal and thematic morning times to spend with the kids!
Morning Time is an opportunity to focus on subjects that are incredibly important, but that can also easily get overlooked in the day to day grind of getting coursework completed.
Morning Time resources are gathered and often placed into a “Morning Basket.”
Common resources include prayer, picture books, chapter books, music, art, and nature study. Less traditional resources such as mindfulness techniques, cooking projects, and a how to survive natural disasters manual have also made appearances in our morning basket.
What’s Included in Morning Time?
Morning Time can include almost anything that’s important to you and to your family.
Pam has organized her Morning Time resources into three primary categories: ritual, reading, and recitation.
Ritual
Morning Time gives children a sense of what to expect in their day. The benefits of routine and ritual include giving children a sense of belonging, a sense of self, a feeling of safety, and an increased understanding of what is most important to our family. Reinforcing that education is important is a huge benefit of morning time. For us, morning time also includes family prayer and bible reading.
Reading
There is arguably nothing better for a family than to read aloud together. Morning Time Plans feature books focused on a central theme often seasonal in nature. Some of our favorite chapter books and picture books have made their way into my children’s hearts via Morning Time.
Recitation
Memorization and recall train the brain to work with and sort information. Having a poem, prayer, song, or scripture in your immediate memory can be of immense comfort during times of stress or worry. Knowing songs and prayers that are commonly sung in church or over the campfire can also increase participation and interest in a child’s community.
Other Subjects
Pam’s Morning Time Plans also have resources for music, art, nature study, and more. Morning Time is meant to give you time to place what’s most important to you and your family first in your day!
How Do You Prepare for Morning Time?
In its simplest form morning time is reading a collection of picture books at breakfast. This is perfect for the youngest among us and is a great way to get them used to spending time together in the morning. Each Morning Time Plan from Pam includes a fantastic printable book list of seasonal titles that have been around long enough to find at the local library or for deep discounts online.
Preschool Morning Time Plans
As my children entered the preschool years we introduced morning prayer, picture books, and a song. When they started to draw and ask to use water paints, we incorporated art into our homeschool. Nature study happened almost naturally and the kids have loved expanding morning time using the Preschool Morning Time Plans.
Seasonal Morning Time Plans
Now that I have one in kindergarten and another hot on her heels, we are befitting greatly from Pam’s seasonal plans. The combination of chapter books, picture books, prayer, memory work, song, nature study, and art has kept the peace and beauty in our morning time while introducing us to new information and experiences we wouldn’t have found on our own.
Catholic Morning Time Plans
The Catholic Morning Time Plans have been especially meaningful to our family. Living liturgically isn’t easy with small children. Many popular crafts and cooking activities can result in more stress and angst than meaningful time with our families and Jesus. The Catholic Morning Time Plans provide child friendly picture books focused on God’s message. Simple art projects and nature study reinforce the meaning behind the liturgical seasons. Hymns and scripture recommendations round out these beautifully sculpted plans.
Here’s a list of Morning Time Plans currently available from Pam Barnhill:
Seasonal Morning Time Plans
**At the time of this post, available for download free to subscribers!
History Morning Time Plans
Preschool Morning Time Plans
Catholic Morning Time Plans
Reading Program Morning Time Plans
Sneak Peek at Week 1 of Fall Morning Time Plans
As an example, here is a quick pictorial glimpse at week one of the Fall Morning Time Plans.
Please note that these plans can either be followed on a block schedule or on a loop schedule.
Week 1 Fall Morning Time Plans
- Prayer
- Father We Thank Thee
- Memorization
- Psalm 136:1-3
- Poetry
- “The Mist and All” by Dixie Wilson
- Fine Arts
- Music Appreciation
- About Tchaikovsky, Classics for Kids
- Picture Study
- Stone City Iowa by Grant Wood
- Art
- Harvest Moon Chalk Art
- Music Appreciation
- Nature Study
- Nature Scavenger Hunt or Symmetry Walk
- Math
- Symmetry Art Project
- Picture Books
- Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy
- Peter Tchaikovsky: Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers by Mike Venezia
- Possum’s Harvest Moon by Anne Hunt
- Chapter Books
- The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
Where do you find Morning Time Plans?
These plans are so simple to use and enjoy with the kids!
I have been able to find all the books I need either at the local library or at an online discount book store.
The other online resources are linked to directly within the digital download of the plan and can be accessed again and again as needed.
All of Pam Barnhill’s Morning Time Plans can be purchased at PamBarnhill.com.
Resources on Morning Time For Homeschool Moms
Your Morning Basket – How to Transform Your Homeschool One Morning At a Time
Morning Time Plans available at PamBarnhill.com
(Download a free month’s sample plan here)
Happy Learning!
